Canticle Blue

32. Impact

Gilon was a Middi of extraordinary grace and agility. Her every movement and gesture seemed to reflect an inner, yet somehow universal, aesthetic. It was not something she aspired to, but something inherent. She was not only fascinated with things normally considered beautiful, but also with artistry she found in repetition, process, and even procedure. Without the stresses of perfectionism, she explored the nuances of perfection.

And she was a brilliant pilot, one who was not only skillful but innovative. She had flown the Lillith many times, all but mesmerizing Shei Pendel with a level of elegance and dexterity she would not have thought possible. She had often performed more like a teacher than a student.

Gilon became inseparably linked to another Middi named Aedh. Since they were created and developed together, this had seemed entirely natural. In time, she also came to admire him for his ideas about government.

Aedh had no wish to be a politician, but he was sometimes called "prince" by other Middi and even by a few humans. He was in no way slighted by this because he did not associate the term with royalty as many did. For him it was more of a default title, and perhaps the highest one he could ever hold, since he felt that, in the overall scheme of things, only God could be a king.

In the closing stages of his development, he had poured over data in the Deep Core in an extensive study of government and was perplexed by what he found: namely that, historically, many forms had not worked well. Those that were successful had seemed more attributable to individuals than systems. Those individuals had been leaders who genuinely put the interests of their people ahead of their own.

So, he reasoned—albeit in Middi fashion—that perhaps he could become a leader like that, never to lord authority over constituents (especially since he currently had none) but rather to serve them by assuming their welfare was his responsibility. This, he decided, he could do because there would never be a shortage of those he could serve. Since he didn't seek authority, he saw no need to be elected. Since he didn't need to be elected, he decided he could be a prince.

The Middi delighted in calling him "prince" simply because they thought it was wonderful to have a prince among them. Gilon was one of those who felt this way. One day, as they were training together for the first mission of the spacecraft, Maire Meid, Gilon watched his aerial skills and remarked to Annibet, "See how well Aedh does this! He flies like a prince."

As it turned out, he would have a great need for such abilities.

For the second Terreska mission, the Castel and Maire Meid carried large service modules between their drive sections. They added so much length to the ships that they resembled conventional rockets. The Maire Meid carried a habitat module. The Castel brought a utility module full of tools and supplies.

By the time the two ships reached the Terreska, it was already drawing perilously close to Innis. The first and most critical part of the mission was opening the egress-port airlock. For this, Gilon took Aedh to the service door between the engines. He carried a dedicated E-matter generator and several tools. As soon as he entered the habitat section he flew directly to the electrical panel Ip had described and began to remove its cover. Leaving all the switches off, he examined the wiring connections for the egress port and found that both sets of of airlock doors used three wires for directional control. After connecting the generator to those wires, he was able to jog the doors back and forth until they were free and open. Because of the length of the ships, he had no choice but to leave both sets of doors open at once.

The Castel quickly flew through the airlock and lander rings with the Maire Meid close behind. While Aedh closed the doors, both ships spun completely around, matched the Terreska's rotation, and edged into position within the rings. Then Aedh and Ip stretched cables between each service module and three ring-support struts. As soon as they were connected and drawn tight, both ships fully deployed their R-drives and brought them up to full thrust.

While Pa'Keh and Gilon piloted the ships, Ip and Aedh left the habitat section through the rear airlock. As Ip stationed herself in the airlock to act as a communications link, Aedh left the Terreska and took up a position near the engine cones.

He immediately began to report conditions outside the ship. "Aedh to pilots: The
moon approaches rapidly. You are still descending."

Gilon responded, "We hear you, my prince. Still at full power here, and the cables
are holding."

Aedh called back, "Your rate of descent is slowing, but the moon is very close now. It is likely there will be damage"

Pa'Keh answered, "We can only continue. There are no options. Ip, are you secure where you are?"

"As well as I can manage, Pa'Keh. If I close the outer door, we would lose our
signals, and Aedh would be by himself."

Aedh's voice broke in suddenly, "You are no longer descending, but a crater rim
looms ahead. It will be close. I must move away from the ship now, if there is time."

At that moment a shudder reverberated through the interior of the Terreska, and the bow began to pitch forward. One of the engine cones had struck the lip of the crater and completely sheared off. It was now spinning toward Aedh, and he could do little to escape the impact. As he extended his arms, as if to hold back the object, he was violently wrenched sideways. Ip had caught him in her arms and was flying with all her strength. The massive cone barely missed them, bouncing once on the moon's surface in a huge plume of debris and then embedding itself deep within the crater.

Ip sent a quick message, hoping it would be heard. "I have Aedh. We have lost an engine cone, and you are still pitching forward. The aft section should clear the far crater wall, but we won't be able to catch up with you. I will set a beacon so you can find us."

Pa'Keh quickly left the Castel and flew to the egress port controls. As he was opening the doors, Gilon detached the collar-drive section of the Maire Meid and sped through the airlock.

For Ip and Aedh, there was no illusion of the passage of time as they waited. Their internal chronometers kept them well informed. But soon they could see the running lights of the Maire Meid approaching from a distance and knew they would be saved.

As Gilon was returning to the Terreska with her passengers, she received a call from Pa'Keh. "It is difficult to stop the tumbling with the ship rotating, but I am making some progress."

Gilon responded, "I am approaching the airlock now, Pa'Keh. It is swinging away from me, but I believe I can make it through."

Then, as if threading a needle, she was back inside, quickly maneuvering to miss the aft section of the Maire Meid, and then turning to reconnect with it. As she did so, Ip flew to the control panel and closed the airlock.

The Middi had rescued the Terreska.

From the point-of-view of astronomers on Havel, the worst thing possible had happened to the Terreska. It had obviously impacted the dark side of the moon. In truth, Gilon and Pa'Keh had stabilized the ship and taken it to a high orbit where it would remain out of sight, far beyond Innis. They had even managed to restore much of its intended rate of rotation.

While Gilon and Aedh remained with the Terreska, Pa'Keh and Ip left their service module connected to the ship and returned to a joyous welcome on the island. Maire Meid was there to greet Ip in the landing area. As she waited, jumping up and down, Ip flew to her, turned upside-down, and kissed her on the forehead.

Maire exclaimed, "My dad called you four, 'Pewari!' It means 'Warriors of Peace.' But now we're going home, 'Pewari Ip', and you have to tell me everything."